Story and Photo by Jeremiah Kalb
Avid gardener Suzanne Willmore knows that when a flower does not bloom, you fix the soil in which it grows, not the flower.
Whatever you plant will not grow well unless you have healthy soil is her mantra.
“Be kind to your dirt,” she says.
One of the wisest men she knows, Willmore’s dad taught her that all health comes from the soil. He wrote for Organic Gardening magazine before it became popular.
“A plant can’t magically have nutrients if it can’t get it from the soil,” she explains.
Willmore knows what it takes to fix poor soil. One season, she got the unlucky draw of putting down more subsoil than topsoil for a new garden space.
Translation: There was absolutely no organic matter.
“We planted a cover crop of Austrian peas and hairy vetch,” she explains.
The result: green manure crop.
“It really amends the soil and adds organic matter,” she adds. Willmore is quick to point out that the technical term for this is “carbon sequestration.”
Willmore’s love for gardening began as a child in Chillicothe, Missouri when she walked behind her father as he tilled the family garden.
“He never made me stop,” she smiles while reflecting on the fact that her mischievousness only compacted the soil even more.
It is no surprise that Willmore would later make her parents proud by earning a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
Willmore wanted to pursue a career in landscape design in Portland or Seattle, two of the greenest places she knew, but ultimately decided to stay closer to home.
“Once I graduated from college and was working as an administrative assistant, I was too comfortable in my job and too afraid to move to a strange place,” she says.
Instead, Willmore started creating her oasis of beauty ten minutes west of Rexburg twenty years ago.
Situated on five acres in Hibbard, the Willmore homestead property looks nothing like it did in 2001.
Where a potato cellar and a farm equipment shop once stood, in their place, one now finds an orchard, a greenhouse, raised beds, and trellises for a garden.
The Virginia creeper (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) that Willmore planted on the fence surrounding the tennis court is stunning.
“This has changed the whole feel of the yard by providing walls and architecture,” she says. “It’s beautiful in the summer with green leaves, in the fall with bright red leaves, and in the winter with places for the birds to be safe from sparrow hawks.”
As you meander along and pay closer attention, you’ll find peonies, iris, and Asian lilies beautifying Willmore’s flowerbeds.
“I really like growing flowers and plants in my flowerbeds,” Willmore says.
Take, for example, her Asian lilies. Highly popular, this specie of lily offers a wide array of colors, from the softest pastels to fiery reds and oranges that practically ignite when the sun shines on them.
“I love appreciating the beautiful colors and patterns of flowers,” she says.
Understandably, Willmore’s horticultural feats draw plenty of “Ooooooh’s and “Awwwww’s” from visitors.
She experiences an array of feelings when gardening. “Accomplishment when things go well,” she says. “Sometimes overwhelmed with how much needs to be done.”
One thing is for sure; you can bet Willmore will take an afternoon in the garden pondering her life and what she can do to better herself over a Netflix binge any day.